Surviving With Love
by Breazy777
Summary: Daryl's never been a people person, no one can change that. He is a tough survivor doing everything he can to save himself and the everybody he cares about. But the question is, can Daryl survive with love..?
1. Lost And Found (1)

**For the purpose of this story I have changed Daryl's age to mid twenties - early thirties. I do not own nor take any credit for the characters I have not created. I do, however, take full credit for my own character and any adjustments I have made to the original storyline. I am also writing the events based on the story line according to my memory so please excuse any mistakes I may have made.**

Weaving my way through the trees and dodging logs I made my way through the forest. Every few minutes I would check that my hunting knife was tucked safely in the belt loop of my jeans even though I knew that the dead never ventured this far out. I was getting sick of nature. I had no one to talk to and hadn't seen a normal person for at least a couple weeks. Deciding to take a break I set my hiking bag down in a patch of sun light and sat on a nearby log. All the stress, weariness and misery from the past fortnight was catching up on me.

Arming myself with my knife I slowly stood and walked over to the bush. Suddenly a walker stumbled out and threw itself at me so I sunk my blade into its head, killing it for the last time. Suddenly another one came out from the side and I put my hand around the back of it, sliding the bloody blade into the back if its head, killing it and kicking it away from me. Then another came over, and another, and another. I killed them fairly quickly but one managed to make its way right in front of me so I punched its head in with the hilt of my knife. Just as I took a breath of satisfaction and looked at all the rotting bodies around me I felt a hand grab my shoulder.

Gasping I turned to face whatever it was that had its hand on me. A walker with its mouth ripped open and an arrow in its neck was staring at me. My first thought was to stab it in the head but I had dropped my knife in fright. My next thought was to rip the arrow from its neck and use it to pierce his head but his mouth was so close to me, his teeth inches from my flesh. Just as I raised my hand to punch its head in something came whizzing through the air and straight through the walkers eyes almost grazing my head. Pushing it backwards I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding. Looking down I saw an arrow through its head that matched the one in its neck. Pulling them out I searched for whoever had fired them. A man, maybe in his mid-thirties, maybe older, wandered out. He was in this shirt that looked like it had seen better days many years ago and he had a cross bow slung over his shoulder.

"Guess these must be yours then." I held out the arrows which he took and placed them with the rest of the arrows. He then went to all of the walkers I just killed and kicked their heads in just to be sure they were dead.

"Well, aren't you a charmer?" I asked sarcastically. He just rolled his eyes and picked up my bag from where I'd left it.

"You got a group?" I shook my head taking my things from him and putting the bag back on. I then picked up my knife and wiped it on the closest walkers' clothes before putting it back in my jeans.

"Actually you're the first person I've seen in weeks." He looked at all the bodies around us. "Well, the first alive person." He pulled out and arrow and arranged it in his bow before walking back to where he had come. Not thinking twice about it I turned to head the other way, thinking he didn't want anything to do with me.

"You coming or not?" Grinning I went back over to him.

"You're offering?" He gave me a look but I wasn't quite sure what it meant yet. He quickly nodded and started walking again so I followed. Over the next hour he said about three words to me and I was sick of it.

"Why won't you talk to me? I would really like to talk because you're the first person I've seen in ages. Please." He just kept going forwards, not even making a move to stop.

"Look, ya wanna talk? Wait till we make it back. They'll be plenty of people to talk then." The whole rest of the day all we did was wonder in silence and murder a few squirrels. It started getting hotter and hotter as the sun's merciless rays burnt down on us.

"Are we going to stop? To, you know, rest?" He looked around and stared me right in the eye like I was some lunatic telling him to jump of a cliff.

"Wow…you really aren't a people person. And you know what? I don't care anymore. I give up. I've been alone and frightened and hungry for days on end so I think I can handle a couple more." He didn't say a thing. I had been following him, helping him hunt and even attempting to talk to him. And attempting to talk to someone is a big step for me because since the first time I saw a walker I have shut everything out. Every single person I have ever cared about I had to shoot in the head. I didn't want to have to be hurt again and so decided to stop caring.

"Sweetheart, just stop being stubborn cause ya'll meet the others later. They like all that personal crap."

"It's just that when I got away I had no one. No living soul near me, or so I thought. So I'm sorry if I can't communicate very well. Haven't done it in a while." And that's when I first realised that people probably got Daryl's feelings mixed up with his personality. People did that to me a lot and, quite frankly, it annoyed the hell out of me which only made me do it more. I kept quiet the rest of the time. I'm not even joking, I hardly said a word. We only really communicated verbally when he was telling me to shut up or not to walk on the tracks he was following.

"Here." I heard Daryl mutter as he hung me a bunch of dead squirrels on a string on my shoulder as I looked on in disgust. "Come on, darlin'. It ain't too bad." Using both hands to hold his crossbow steady the redneck slowly moved forward, carefully placing his feet in the leaves as to try and not make too much noise.

"Daryl," I hissed through my teeth tugging the dead creatures off my shoulder I held them in my hand as I quietly made my way over to him, "why are we being quiet?" I was confused. We weren't tracking anything at the moment that I knew ofand I couldn't figure out why he was almost seeming to stalk something.

"I thought I saw a walker." My breath hitched in my throat at the last word that came tumbling out of his mouth, those six letters sending cold chills to my toes. Licking my lips I heard a twig snap from behind me and jumped out of my skin. Daryl twisted his body upon instinct causing his crossbow to ram into my shoulder. Tumbling sideways I desperately attempted to clutch at the air around me before my head fell to the ground. Groaning I opened my eyes in time to see a small brown rabbit scurry into the surrounding bushes.

"Are you joking?" I said to no one in particular. A chuckle sounded in my ear as a rough set of fingers dug into my upper arm pulling me to my feet.

"May as well go back. Any chance of finding anything is done for. You can thank your big mouth for that." I gasped and threw the stupid squirrels I had squashed in the dirt at the man in front of me.

"Excuse me?" He easily caught the string of meat in one hand, holding his crossbow in the other. His face barley controlled surprise at my sudden out burst. Sadly though, it didn't stop him making a quick comeback.

"You and your bloody yelling are gonna get me murdered out 'ere."

"You are the one who said I can come with you." I muttered not wanting to yell. I was sick of yelling and being yelled at. I'd had enough of this before people started eating people and I wasn't going to wait around for anymore of it.

"I couldn't leave you out there, okay?" His voice hushed to the point where I thought it would crack. He picked up the squirrels and my bag which had slipped off when I fell. "I wouldn't leave you out there. We're almost back now just hurry up." Had this man who wasn't showing me any hint of emotion just opened up, however slight, to me? After hardly a minute of walking I couldn't stand the silence.

"Many other people in your group?" Daryl picked up his pace and I realised I had hit a sensitive area.

"Me and my brother. You as well now, I guess." My eyes widened.

"No one else?" He turned long enough to roll his eyes at me then kept trudging forwards, ever forwards.

"You mean besides the massive highway full of people and cars, yeah." There are people. There are people on a highway trying to get out of the city.

"I can't go there. I don't want to go there. I'll take my chances out here thanks." I lunged forward to take my bag but he held firm to it. "Daryl, give me my bag." Hard eyes met my own. I could tell that they were waiting for an explanation. "Look, those things, whatever they are, they're not going to stop. Being around lots of people will ensure my death and I'm not ready to die."

"Stop being dramatic and get your ass moving." I blinked, my mouth agape. Shaking my head to clear my head I did what he said. Just as the afternoon sun was making it's way under the horizon I could hear yelling and car horns. We made it.

"It'll be fine. Nothing will happen to ya." Daryl called over his shoulder, seeming at read my thoughts and we made our way to the road banked up with too many cars to count. Looking left I saw and endless trail of vehicles and the same to my right.

"Holy shit." I breathed as Daryl led me to an old pickup truck parked next to one of the nicest motorcycles I'd ever seen. Upon instinct I wondered over to the bike and ran my hand across the handle bar but a grubby hand stopped me.

"What the hell you think your doing?" The hand threw my own away from the bike and I followed the arm up to its owner. A man probably in his forties stared right back at me with the same hard gaze as Daryl.

"Your Daryl's brother?" I questioned, pointing finger at him.

"I thought I said no strays, Baby Bro. Thought I gotta say you picked a cute one." The man gave me a sickly grin giving me the once over. I swear I threw up a little in my mouth. I looked over at Daryl to see him putting the game he just caught in the back of the car.

"Hey, I'm not done with you." A new voice made itself known. A tall dark haired guy came up to Merle and swung him around so they were facing each other.

"Get your hands off of him!" Daryl burst forward to help his brother and a few choice words were swapped before anything useful was spoken.

"We can hunt. We can help ya'll out. Safely in numbers." Deciding to take part in the conversation I stepped towards them.

"No way. Not with him. Don't waste your time trying to talk me into it." The dark haired guy started to turn away.

"Hey, I'm talking to you!" Daryl yelled out. This grabbed the guys attention. Merle was suddenly a breath away from me.

"Here we go. So, what'd you do to my baby bro for him to help you?" I rolled my eyes as he gave me the same grin as before. He was a sick bastard, only thing on his mind was sex. But that did cover most men...

Ignoring him I made my way over to where dark hair and Daryl were chest to chest staring each other down.

"Whoa whoa whoa. I'm sure we can work something out." I intervened pulled both men a good arms length away from each other. Daryl flexed his shoulders in what must have been an attempt to seem tough which the other guy just ran a hand over his head before looking to me.

"Don't tell me your with these douche bags." Moving closer to Daryl I stood my ground.

"He saved my life. Don't talk to him or his brother like that." New guy raised his eye brows. Daryl took the free moment to have his say.

"Have it your way. If something happens to this girl it's on you." Did he just call me a girl? I was in my mid twenties. I couldn't look that young, could I? The redneck turned to walk away but dark hair's voice called him back.

"If you help us, we'll help you." Daryl knew he'd won ever before he had turned away. "We're leaving at dawn. Your brother knows which cars ours." A curt nod on each side ended the conversation.

"Good going, lil' brother." Merle clasped his brother on the back. "Come on lady. You can stay in the back." Assuming he was talking to me I trailed behind them.

"Sleeping with the dead animals. What a pity I didn't stick with the bunnies." I laughed back insinuating back to the rabbit which had scared the shit out of me and my saviour. Earning a slight chuckle from Daryl left Merle confused.

"Thanks again, Daryl for pushing my ass up that hill." I smiled a fake sweet smile before climbing into the back of their ute. Even on the metal floor it was the safest I had felt since I'd left my home and within seconds my eyes had slid shut. The last thing I remember hearing was, "We'll get the girl in on the plan in the morning. That group won't even know what hit 'em."


	2. Left Behind (2)

In no time I had met everyone and was sitting around a collection of embers. In the last twenty four hours Merle had been hand cuffed to a roof in Atlanta by this guy, Rick, claiming to be a cop. Daryl and I found that out when we got back from a hunt. Not that I killed anything not already dead. Sure Rick had the uniform but there wasn't anything left in this world, yet alone the law. To say the least, he wasn't scoring any points in my books anytime soon. Daryl reacted pretty bad as you could imagine so I let him have his space thought sitting around the campfire singing songs wasn't my cup of tea. One thing I didn't mind was sneaking glances at Shane. That's right, I knew his name and we had even had a couple of conversations. Mostly about where me and Daryl would be hunting and the walkers I'd killed but it all counted.

"So let me get this straight; Rick who just found you yesterday is the husband of Lori, father of Carl and best friend of Shane?"

"Yep, crazy ain't it?" I sighed listening into the conversations and flexed my shoulders trying to relax and loosen up. After Daryl constantly doing it I had picked up his bad habit.

"Lucky guy to have found everyone he was looking for." I finally spoke up. Andrea put a hand on my shoulder as if to comfort me but I shrugged her off. Of course that seemed to get everyone's attention because they all turned to face me like I was the centre of gravity or something. I'd known these people for over a week yet all I've allowed them to know is my name pretty much. Like I said, too many people meant death in my eyes. I didn't want to get too attached.

"You never did tell us how you got here, Tammy. It's sort of a ritual here, telling each other about our pre apocalypse lives." I got nervous, not wanting to bring up bad memories. I fake yawned and stretched my arms above my head before standing and wandering to Daryl and Merle's tent. Sure I had my own tent a few metres from theirs but I knew if I was to get any sleep it would be as close to them as possible. Slipping into Daryl's tent I saw everything neatly placed which came as a big surprise. In the middle I saw Daryl sitting in his bed with his head in his hands. I hadn't really gotten remotely close to anybody, not even Daryl who saved me, but I knew what it was like to feel lost and alone. Scared for what would happen in the future that was always just out of reach.

"Daryl..." I sat in the bunk next to him.

"Haven't you done enough." He spat at me.

"What did I do wrong?" I pushed Daryl's shoulder so he was now facing me.

"If you'd walked away when I found you we would have never come with this group and that officer dick wouldn't have been anywhere near my brother." A ball of anger rattled inside of me.

"If I recall you were the one forcing my hand." Sighing in defeat the dirty redneck buried his head back in his hands.

"I'll leave you to... Whatever this is then."

"Please just say here tonight. I don't want Rick getting in your head and finding out bout what we planned." Oh yeah and that thing that I heard Merle say when I fell asleep in the pickup truck on the highway was him planning to rob the camp blind. It was going to be tonight and I was going to help them but now Merle being gone messed up everything. Making myself comfortable on Merle's bed I heard Daryl's breathing start to even out.

"If it counts for anything I'm sort of happy we're not doing it." I wasn't even sure he had heard me because a moment later I slipped into unconsciousness.

Next morning I woke in Daryl's empty tent. Frantically running out I was met with the sun high in the sky. Looking around me I saw the van gone. He'd left me. He'd left me without even a single word. Not that he had a right to anyway, we were hardly friends. Which was sad since I had spent almost every waking second with him and his brother the last few days.

"Where's everyone else?" I yelled up to Dale. He pointed his rifle over to the quarry. The heat was already heating my skin in the few minutes I'd been awake so I must have slept well into the day. I guess that's the price I pay for not sleeping properly for weeks on end. I waved a thanks to Dale and pulled on my new boots. As I started on my way down to the water's edge I spotted all the women washing the clothes by hand, and chatting. As I moved closer I heard, "I miss my vibrator." And an eruption of giggles came from the group. And then Carol, the quietest out of them all commented, "Me too…" Even I couldn't help but laugh as I got closer.

"Hey, Tammy. We decided not to wake you, figured you could use the rest." Amy looked over and gave me one of the warmest looks anyone had given me in months, probably years. I hadn't even sat down yet when Ed came over to get Carol. I wasn't listening to the words being passed, just hearing the ladies protective tones and seeing Carol's worried face. Out of the blue Ed backhanded his wife across the face. It was no secret that Ed beat up his wife, even I knew it but that didn't mean I was going stand of anything of the likes. Jumping into action I dragged my elbow into his gut and then then took his surprise as a chance to crack my fist in his chin. Shane then came over and threw him away from me and started pounding his face in.

"You put your hands on your wife, your little girl, or anyone else in this camp one more time, I will not stop next time. I'll beat you to death, Ed." I saw this wild look in his eyes as he flicked a quick glance at me before storming back to camp. Carol ran over to Ed, crying, stroking his face and repeating to him that she was sorry. Full of rage at how a man could lay hands on his child's mother, his own lover like he had been, it made me feel sick to the stomach. I shook my head and ran back to the camp site before anyone could stop me.

Full of blinding rage that sometimes overpowers me, I dropped to my knees in the dirt and pressed my head to my thighs. A hand on my shoulder makes me jump and I pull out my knife to see that it was only Dale seeing if I was feeling okay.

"Whoa there. I'm only tryin' to help you." He searches my eyes for several seconds as I lowered my weapon but I made sure he couldn't find much emotion.

"I know you've been through a lot but you need to calm down. There' kids here too you know. Now I'm not sure what kinda things you've seen out there," He paused to put his hand back on my shoulder, "Or had to do out there but your safe here. Ain't no need to be scared anymore." A tear escaped from my eye and travelled down my cheek. No one had seen me cry since the night I'd left home but I didn't think the flesh eating monsters would have noticed. I still counted it as it was my brother who had seen it, or at least whatever foul thing had possessed my brother.

"Before you ask, no. I don't want to talk about it." I hopped up from my place on the ground and wiped my tear away. "What can I do to help?" Shane came over to us with the others, excluding Ed, so we could go and talk to this guy digging holes like a mad man. I had forgotten his name but when we got there Shane called him Jim. They try and get him to stop digging but he doesn't listen. Lori attempts to reason with him telling him that he's scaring Carl and Sophia, just like I probably was before. I started to feel really bad for those kids. They were so young and innocent meant to be carefree not dwelling in the pity of the doomed. Shane then started to get angry with Jim and his temper starts to boil, you could tell by his voice. He was yelling at Jim to take a break, barking the order at him like a drill sergeant.

"If I don't…then what? Then you're gonna beat my face in like Ed Peletier, arent'cha?" I can see that he's getting ready to swing his hand with the shovel in it and I move forward just as he does, catching the top of the wooden handle mid-air seconds before Shane tackles him to the ground. Jim then starts crying about his own family.

"The only reason I got away is cause the dead were too busy eating my family." He wailed. The faces of everyone dropped and we hauled the hysterical man back to the camp and tied him to a tree. Shane told us it was for his own safety and most of us agreed. Once he had a few sips of water I sat with him and leaned against the trunk in the cool shade that hid us from the sun.

"You know, Jim, I sorta know how you feel." I didn't dare look at him or I would have broken down. I think he knew because he just sat and listened to me. "I had never gotten along with my family. Dead beat dad, try hard mum and even a sold out big brother. I've been by myself my whole life. When the infection hit my family didn't care, they just went about normally but I prepared myself so I could get out of there before I saw the people I cared about be ripped apart. Unfortunately I was the one who had to shoot them all in the head. The hardest part was that when the walkers' got through not one of them even yelled out my name, didn't even try and look for me to see if I was going to make it out. But I couldn't leave them, not like the monsters they would have turned into." Jim finally looked over at me, his eyes full of sadness.

"Ya know, if my hands weren't tied I would give you a hug right about now." I clasped my hand on one of his shoulders.

"Lucky you are tied to a tree then." I wondered over to where Shane was teaching the kids to scale the fish. I picked up a knife but Shane took it from my fingers.

"I heard what you told Jim. I'm sorry but I overheard it." I guess Andrea was right, everybody really did share their stories in this little group after all. I didn't want to think about what I had to leave behind any longer so I tried to change the topic. I could still see my families milky eyes staring hungrily at me and it's unnerved me, chilled me to my bones.

"I'm trying to help, Shane. What else am I meant to do?" Sighing he gave me the knife back and I started showing Sophia how to fillet a fish. Both her and Carl lost interest though and left us two adults to do the work.

"You have a good reason for pushing people away, Tammy?" I stabbed the point of the blade into the tree right next to us and my hand curled into a fist.

"What makes you think I would tell you, huh? Think I'll spill my soul's secrets to a pretty face? Well think again." I was angry at him. Angry at him for pushing me to open up. Angry at him for thinking I couldn't handle Ed. Angry at him for no reason other than having someone to take it out on. I was angry that Daryl hadn't bothered to even say bye. Taking a couple of deep breaths I ran my hand through my hair.

"Look, Shane. I've never trusted anyone other than myself. I'm gonna need some time to get used to trusting people, so don't listen to me if I say something stupid." There was always the possibility that Merle and Daryl weren't coming back so I needed to fend for myself and at least attempt to make friends. Let's say that I need a lot of work in that department. Picking up half of the cleaned fish I started towards the camp fire which had more rocks around it so we could have higher flames than the night before.

"Nice fire guys." I smiled and passed the meat to Andrea who started to cook it. Shane brought the other pile and we all sat around the warm ring.

"Fish fry!" Carl shouted, making everyone laugh. "Hey Tammy," The boy said coming to sit near me, "Can I call You Tamm? Mum said I had to ask you first." I smirked and ruffled his hair.

"Cause you can lill' man. But only if I can teach you how to shoot a gun." He looked hopefully over to Lori who shrugged. For some reason I had a soft spot for kids and I wasn't sure I was ever going to see any again after wondering in the woods for weeks. Hell, I thought it was just going to be me there.

"May as well, he's going to learn someday." Carl jumped up and down.

"Yes, yes, yes! Thanks Tamm!" He told me before he bounced back to his mum. A few minutes later Amy moves to get up and leave the now chattering circle. I didn't quite catch who but someone asks her where she was headed off to and she laughed at them saying she needed to use the bathroom. Sheesh, everyone questioned what you did here but I guessed that's what made it such a nice way to live. They were only asking those things because they were worried about you. Thinking about that for a couple of seconds and I had made up my mind to tell Shane what he wanted to know. I stood up and quickly sat down next to him so no one would ask why I was getting up when I heard a scream. The last time someone had screamed like that was when Daryl and I were in the woods and our damn deer had been hacked into. Everyone jumped out of their skin and flipped their heads to where the distressed noise had come from. Amy, who had just come out of the RV, had a walker biting her arm and another going for her neck. All around us the walking dead come out from the surrounding woods and attack like a pack of dogs. Most run over behind Shane because he has the gun but I stay right where I am and pull out my knife for the second time that day and stand on a defence position. Carl was crying as Lori and Carol held their children close to them as far away from the flesh eating things as possible. Shane shot as many of them in the head as possible and Dale scrambled to get his rifle. That's when a few came charging at me. I killed about three in the space of about fifteen seconds and two more after that. Making a split second decision I inched my way towards the others, killing another walkers as I went. I was about two feet from everyone else when Rick, T-dog, Glenn and Daryl came bursting through the trees and started to shoot the rest of the walkers with the guns Rick had left in a bag in Atlanta. I see Andrea hugging her dead sister but a walker was rushing towards her. I started running but just as I did it got a hole blown right through its head. The gunshot startled me and I stumbled causing me to trip and fall. Not thinking I dropped my knife under me and I landed on it, a new sharp pain in my thigh. Turns out that the walker that was advancing on Andrea wasn't alone cause soon I saw the rotting and bloody face of one above me. I fumbled for my blade, closing my fingers around it and putting it to my throat. 'The moment that thing bites me I'm going to put an end to my suffering before anyone else has to' I thought to myself. Half a second before it descended on me T-dog came and kicked it out of the way and shot it between the eyes. I still had the pointy blade against my neck and I was so stressed that it had started to slice into me. Drops of crimson blood were dripping down the sides of my neck and onto the ground now but T-dog snatched it out of my white knuckles.

"Holy shit." He muttered under his breath as all around us the screams of terror were dampened into sobs of sadness. Touching my neck I found that the cut wasn't deep, more like a scratch, but the stab in my leg was at least an inch deep. I sat up and inspected the wound, cringing at how much blood and flesh was visible. Out of the blue I felt the cool tip of an arrow press to my forehead. Still in shock I just looked up to see Daryl's face glaring at me.

"Did you get bit?" My mind could hear the words but when I tried to speak my lips wouldn't move to form words. "I said did you get bit?" I raised a hand to try and stop him sending an arrow flying through my head but he just pressed it harder to me. Was he really pointing that thing at me? He had worked so hard to save me and now he was ready to throw it all away just like that?

"Dude, she tripped on her knife. I stopped her being bit. Just chill." The point of the arrow didn't budge. "I said lay off." T-dog shoved Daryl but he was still staring at me with cold eyes. Finally I willed myself to speak.

"I didn't get bit." I let my hand move near my leg. "It was my knife, I tripped and it stabbed me." Daryl grunted and moved to the walker lying next to me. He stomped on its head, crushing any working brain left inside it for the second and last time. I turned to T-dog. He had a look of sheer terror and growing sadness in his eyes.

"You saved me." That's all I remember before blacking out.

**Hey guys :) Someone out there, you know who you are, gave me the spark of inspiration I needed to help me write more so here it is. I have changed chapter one and two and am halfway through writing three. Hope you dont have to wait too long for the next couple chapters. I just finished season 3 and cried when Merle died :'( Hope to see ya'll again soon, Love From Breazy xxxx**


	3. We'll Survive (3)

I yelled out in pain as blinding pain burst through my head. I tried to move but something was holding me down. Trying to say something I brought my head up but only for it to be pushed right back down.

"Shhh, just let me cover it up and then you can do whatever you want." Carol's soft face appeared and wrapped something around my leg. Looking down I saw that a hole had been cut in my jeans around the thigh and the bandage that was now covering it kept in place with duct tape. A little confused I turned my head to the left only to see Daryl next to me.

"What the hell is going on?" I asked but no one answered me. He was just leaning back on the caravan wall polishing his cross bow. His eyes looked over to me for about three seconds before he kept looking at his bow. It was dark in the little room, the only light coming from a small battery operated lantern.

"All done." Carol held her hand out for the rag which Daryl gave her, rolling his eyes. She pressed it to my brow to get rid of the beads of sweat. "You can take her now, Daryl." She went outside and Daryl came over to me and put his arm under my shoulders to try and help me up making my breath hitch at him being so close. In the he whole time I'd known him he'd kept his distance and now he was against me, it felt so strange. Seeming to forget I had a hole in my leg I swung both over the side of the bed. I instantly regretted it. Pain worse than anything I could ever imagine shot from my leg to my head in a heartbeat. I reached out my hands and grabbed onto Daryl's arm. He flinched but only slightly at the sudden contact.

"Hold on." He picked me up in his arms and carried me outside but everyone else was in their tents. He put me down in front of a pile of embers that had once been small flames and we sat in silence for a while hardly able to comprehend what had happened. The bodies of the foul twice dead creatures surrounded us. A small mutter escaped Daryl's lips as he sat on one of the logs behind me to my left.

"I need pain killers, a drink, anything." I groaned as the cold started to get in my bones. The man next to me just sighed and slid down so he was on the ground as well his arm a mere inch from my own. He was getting so close tonight it really was unnerving. Silence answered me as we both just sat there waiting for the each other to do something, anything really.

"Rick said he's gonna leave tomorrow. Anyone who wants to go has to leave at dawn." I looked over at him and licked my lips, unsure of what to say. Neither of us were the best at talking and considering he has tried to send an arrow flying through my head not long ago I figured that it would be best not say anything. "I'm gonna go. I think you should too. Won't survive long on a leg like that by yourself. I didn't leave you in the woods the first time and I ain't gonna leave you now." I gave him a thin smile. Daryl was being so...nice. I think it was Merle's absence cause he hadn't been like this at all the last two weeks I'd known him. And I wanted it to last as long as possible.

"Don't think I have a choice then, do I?" Another wave of pain came surging through me and I must have cringed because Daryl stood me and himself up.

"Your bunking with me because I don't want you to die in ya sleep."

"Two nights in a row? To whom do I owe this pleasure?" I was mocking him and he knew it. There wasn't even a hint of humour in my voice, just coldness and pain. Letting me put an arm around his shoulders to support myself I hobbled along after the redneck. He took me over to his tent and helped me inside before helping me into his brothers cot. I snuggled in, basically asleep as my head hit the floor but something else got my attention. Daryl took off his shirt and climbed in his own make shift bed, his soft laboured breathing keeping me awake. I didn't mind in the least, being sort of wide awake so I waited until his breathing evened out signalling he had fallen asleep before closing my own eyes.

Next morning I woke to my name being called and a rush of cool air hitting my side. Daryl must have thrown the blanket off my body to wake me. I sighed in annoyance and turned to go back to sleep but I had forgotten about my leg, I had put all my body weight onto it by accident.

"Shit." Groaning I sat up and saw that the bandage wrapped around my leg was soaked in dark red blood. A bit disorientated I sat up and looked around to see Daryl buttoning up a red checked shirt with the sleeves ripped off. I don't know how long I was staring, I don't even know why I was staring, but he must have felt my gaze because he turned around to stare right back at me. Giving me a quick nod he turned to pack his bag and walked out of the tent leaving me alone with my thoughts. After gathering all my things in my bag which magically packed itself I slowly made my way to where everyone was meeting in front of the cars. Not knowing who to go over to I stood there awkwardly until Shane came up and took my bag from my fingers.

"You're coming with us, right? I mean, look at that leg." Shuffling a couple of steps closer I snatched my bag back from him.

"I am coming but I can easily carry one bag." Tossing it on my shoulder I slowly made my way to the closest car hood and put a hand against it to steady myself. Looking up I saw one family packed up but not seeming to be going with us while Rick was taping a map to a nearby tree for someone he apparently met before making it to Atlanta. Carl and Sophia were clinging into their mums who were glancing at each other in sadness.

"You getting in?" A booming voice made me jump but I instantly knew the accent.

"Give a girl time why don't ch'ya?" I challenged back with a slight smirk. He returned my attempt at friendliness with a face cold as stone. Daryl was behind the wheel of the ute I was leaning on. Looking in the back I spotted a beautiful black motor bike. "I swear I'll steal that thing one day." I nodded towards the bike as I hobbled around the car gripping tightly to the sides, finally making it to the passenger seat.

"Gotta keep it good for when he gets back." There was something slightly amiss in Daryl's voice that made me want to touch his shoulder, to tell him it was okay but I stopped myself in time. We both knew he was talking about Merle.

"Didn't find him, did you?" The question flew from my mouth making me wish I had tried comforting him instead. His hands gripped the steering wheel until his knuckles turn white as ash. Deciding to leave it alone I looked out the window. Shane was standing with his back to us and I couldn't help but check him out.

"What's your story then? Ya never told me." The southern accent cut through my concentration making me whip my head around to stare straight into his green eyes.

"Now you're suddenly interested in talking to me? You didn't even bother to give me a farewell wave when you left." He raised his hands and smacked them back on the wheel in defeat, started the engine and left us in awkward silence. Hardly moving a muscle for what seemed like hours I shifted in my seat as I started to go stiff. Wiggling my leg was the biggest mistake as I felt like my leg was being seared off.

"Stupid fuckin'…" I spoke gritting my teeth which turned the rest of my sentence into a growling mumble. A hard chuckle sounded next to me. "Dick." I spat, my eyes darting to the side, but it only made his gruff voice laugh harder. "Spit it out then, what's so funny?"

"Sound like Merle." Everything fell quiet so we just kept our eyes on the RV in front of us. Unfortunately for us the other vehicles seemed to stop so we sat in the idle car. "You can get out if ya like." Daryl tossed his head to Lori and Carol who seemed to be talking while Sophia and Carl stretched their legs.

"I would love to but I can't…" I could suddenly feel his eyes looking at my leg.

"That bad, huh?" I couldn't reply before another wave hit me and I felt like I could have spewed everywhere. "Let me look." Not a moment later his hand pulled the thick tape back and revealed my cut. Just seeing it made my head so fuzzy I had to grab onto his shoulder. We were stuck now since our arms were crossed. Peeking back I saw the stab wound had turned a sick looking black with yellow starting to scab around it.

"Feels worse than it looks, trust me on that." I spoke squeezing my eyes shut as Daryl stuck the bandage back on. I kept my hand on his shoulder more for comfort than anything else. He was the closest person I had physically been near besides walkers since earth turned into living hell.

"Ya know if ya don't get outta the car the cuts gonna heal like that and ya won't be moving at all. I think ya needa get outta, move around." The logical part of my brain agreed with him but there was still a part that wanted to punch him in the nose and tell him to leave me alone. It might have been his eyes that helped me chose, the way they had let hidden worry slip into his steady gaze.

"Alright but only if you find me some kind of drug." A sly grin slid over his firm lips and I could already tell that it was extremely rare to see. Unfortunatly it seemed to disappear in the same second. Practically jumping out the car I heard him shuffle around on the back where the bike was before he was suddenly at the passenger side window. In his open palm were two white tablets.

"Here ya go." Downing them without water scratched my throat dry but keeping my mind focused on how much pain they would ebb made me do it without hesitation. My car door was quickly open before I remembered my deal. Grabbing Daryl's hands I moved forward in the seat but it pulled at the already healing tissue on my leg causing me to yell in pain.

"Merle used to be the biggest dick 'round, probably still is, but he did have one thing goin' for him. He had his drugs that he always kept balled up in his bike, in the pouch on the side near the back." Thinking about Daryl's brother and concentrating on what he was telling me distracted me from the task at hand. Before I knew it both legs were swung round the side of the car but now the real challenge would be standing. "You can't go 'round tellin' the others 'bout it, not even Merle can know that you've had at his personal stash." My eyes widened when I realised where he had gotten the tablets from. Oh my good lord, I knew Merle was a nutcase but a nutcase on crack?

"You gave me actual fuckin' drugs?!" I hissed but bit my cheek as I slipped and my good leg hit the floor. Unlocking my jaw that was set in pain I bit my lips and inched my other foot to the ground. Every move felt like it was ripping it. A metallic taste hit my tongue.

"Just somethin' to help with the pain, nothing bad." Putting all my weight on my good leg and Daryl's hands I managed to stand without my infected leg touching the ground. "Come on, darlin' you gotta walk some time." Noticing the way Daryl's eyes were amost twinkling I couldn't help but grin.

"Not if I can help it." I knew he would be an ass and walk away forcing me to use my leg so I quickly grabbed the car door and manoeuvred myself back into the passenger seat.

"Your real stubborn, aren't ya?" Daryl rolled his eyes and shut my door before getting back behind the wheel. "Are you ever going to tell me your story? How about the first walker ya killed?" A heavy sigh left my lips. Flashes went through my head of my brother lunging at me, trying to rip my flesh from my bones. His milky yellow soulless eyes fixed on me.

"The first walker I killed was my brother. I've seen enough cheesy zombie movies to know it had to be the brain."

"The first walker I saw was my dad. I didn't have the balls to shoot him so someone else did." My gut tightened. This man had been through the same thing as me except I shot my whole family. There wasn't anyone else to do it for me and I couldn't leave them like they were.

"I shot my dad and mum too. Didn't have no one else to do it for me."

"We'll survive. Amy was never gonna be strong enough but the people like us are the ones who'll survive." Daryl spoke the truest words I'd probably ever heard. My head agreed with him though my heart told me to hang on and have even a little hope for the other people who had taken us in. I was already starting to care about them.

"It'll be easier if I just leave. People die and anyone who cares gets hurt. I don't wanna get hurt again. When I was walk properly I'm gone. I don't know why I didn't just leave when you found me." I don't think Daryl had any words to reply with cause he just sort of sat and stared out the windscreen.

"I couldn't leave ya out there." Before I could even reply Shane came over to the window so I opened the door.

"Thought you'd need this. How's the leg?" He passed me a half full plastic bottle of water that must have been sitting in one of there cars. I was really pissed for a reason I wasn't quite sure of and I unfortunately wasn't in the chatting mood. I say unfortunately because he is pretty damn cute.

"Fine, thanks." I stared straight ahead just as Daryl was doing and you could have bottled up the awkward it as so thick.

"So, I'll, uh, leave you guys to it." Shane rubbed his hand over his head he walked off looking back at us with a confused look. Out of the corner of my eye I could see him say something to Glenn who looked at me weirdly.

"So, I should tell ya I'm sorry bout what I did before." My still cold stare met him.

"Making me relive the past I've tried so hard to forget?" Not able to meet my eyes he toyed with the steering wheel.

"Nah, I meant when I almost put a bolt through your head."

"Daryl, that was nothing. Seriously, forget it. I woulda done the same thing." After what seemed like forever he finally looked at me, right in the eyes and it felt like he could see into my soul. It was unnerving.

"Ya promise?" The corners of my mouth scrunched up as I frowned and he knew what I was thinking; he was crazy, right?

"Do I promise to try and kill you...?" I spoke slowly making sure he knew what he was asking.

"If I get bit I wanna make sure I die. If you do it for me, I'll do it for you." I thought about this. I wouldn't want somebody to shoot me, I was perfectly capable to end my own suffering. But there was something about this man that just caught my attention in a different way...

"Sounds fair." Giving him a thin two second smile to show him I really did agree to what he proposed I turned my head to the window as we started on the road again.


	4. All The Time In The World (4)

When we finally reached the CDC it was nothing like I excepted. What I first noticed was the big modern looking building, half of it was stark white and the other half made of glass. Then I saw the dead. They were sprawled everywhere. Bodies in army attire, scientists in their cloaks and even normal clothed people. Several army trucks and a tank were scattered around the rotting bodies stained black with their own blood. Daryl moved to get out of the car with his crossbow which never seemed to leave his sight.

"Stop." My simple word froze him in his tracks. "I have a bad feeling bout this place." Getting out of the truck and coming to my side he opened the door.

"So do I but it's worth a look." Nodding in reply I slipped out of the car landing hard on my leg.

"Fu-" I stopped my swear as Carl walked past us and me and Daryl shared a look. If things weren't so serious I think I would be in hysterics by now. As the redneck started to walk with everybody else I called him back. "Daryl!" I hissed. "I can't walk..." Grasping onto the open car door I was balancing on one leg. Rolling his eyes, he came over and let me put an arm around him. He tensed up at my touch and could tell he would rather be doing anything else than help me hobble after the rest of the group. Daryl had his loaded crossbow in one hand ready if he needed it while the other was helping me along. I was pretty slow but as the walkers around us started to stir I found it in myself to go a little faster until we reached everyone else.

"Nothing?" Shane's voice killed the last piece of hope in my heart as he banged on the door. The pain that had been ebbing suddenly came rushing back with no warning. For several seconds all my mind could see was an explosion of colours and a ringing in my ears until Rick spoke up.

"Then why are the shutters down?" I felt my body being passed to someone else and I looked to see Andrea keeping me upright as Daryl walked a few steps from us.

"Walkers!" His rough southern accent yelled at us. A bolt flew through the air hitting a geek square in the head as Lori attempted to pull her husband away, walkers hearing our voices and rising in hopes of a scrap to eat.

"You led us to a grave yard!" Daryl yelled and I could hear the anger in his voice as thick as the stale air around us. Shane and Daryl bickered and Shane tried reasoning with Rick more but nothing was working for the law man. He just stood there trying to figure out why the doors wouldn't magically roll up for him.

Finally coming to a conclusion we decided to take our chances on the road and not be eaten alive by dead sergeants.

"The camera...it moved." Rick piped up as Andrea was trying her best to pull me along.

"You imagined it." Shane's patience was wearing thin thin, he was trying to save us all.

"It moved. It moved." Rick and Shane were screaming at each other but I couldn't see them. Andrea was pulling me as fast as she could back to the cars as Daryl was killing walkers closing in around us. I knew we would probably die. After that minute it wouldn't be too many more hours until my heart stopped beating whether it be from blood poisoning or a fever or my flesh ripped from my bones or even a shot to the head.

"Please help us. You're killing us! You're killing us! You're killing us!" Rick screamed at whoever he thought was on the other side of the camera. Pushing myself I took another step forward but was stopped dead in my tracks. Blinding white light was coming from behind us. Someone had opened the doors.

We all turned, gobsmacked, our eyes adjusting to the bright light. Rushing in anybody who could hold a gun had one out, locked and loaded. Hearing a noise from the shadows I turned to see a man holding a machine gun at us. He didn't look particularly threatening but if I had learnt one thing in my years, it was not to judge personality by looks.

"Anybody infected?" The new voice rung out.

"One of our group was. He didn't make it." Just thinking about Jim tugged on even my heart strings. Leaving him there on the side of the road to turns was sad but mostly a bad idea, he might even kill one of us later. But it wasn't my decision.

"Why are you here? What do you want?" He was joking, right? He had to be kidding himself. What the hell didn't we want after being stuck out there with our necks in the line for every living moment of every day. We were too afraid to live and petrified of dying.

"A chance." Rick stuttered. This man, whoever he was, could gun us all down if he wanted and not think twice about it or he could help us. We didn't know him or what he was capable of.

"That's asking an awful lot these days." Every nerve in my body tightened as he stepped closer to us.

"I know." Rick's simple words left silence in the air. I turned to look at Daryl who just frowned, little lines crinkling around his eyes, his gun never wavering.

"You all submit to a blood test. That's the price of admission." I swear I could feel the anxiety lift off of every single sweaty tired body in the room. All he wanted was a vile of my blood. Hell, he could have a cup if he wanted it!

"We can do that." Rick was like our leader now, the sudden realisation hit my mind. And I didn't like it one bit.

"If you got stuff to bring in do it now. Once this door closes it stays closed." Shane and Glenn ran out to grab all our essential bags. Not that there were many. Daryl gently took me from Andrea, gripping my forearm to keep me upright as I tried to carefully put weight on my sore leg. Biting back a string of swear words as pain erupted up my leg his grip became tighter on me, making sure I was alright.

The next thing I knew we all squished into an elevator. I didn't really concentrate on anything else except breathing deeply and trying not to pass out. The pain was becoming unbearable.

The man, who I found out was actually a doctor, led us through a series of halls to a small room where he took some blood from each of us.

"Dr Jenner, Tammy here needs meds. You got any lying around?" I heard Shane ask the doctor. He looked over to me to see my blood soaked jeans.

"Sure thing. Just let me finish up here and I'll get you fixed up." Once he took blood from each of us, Dr Jenner sat me down and took off my bandage. "This'll be easy to fix. Couple more hours and you'd have it a lot worse." He went to grab something and then next thing I knew a huge needle was stuck in my leg.

"Hey, hey, hey, what the hell?" I went to try and move but Shane was by my side within seconds stopping me.

"You won't feel the stitching now. Pain'll fade away." Jenner told me. He talked me through what he was doing as he stitched up the gash in my leg and treated it with god knows what. "Done. Take these every few hours and you'll be fine." He handed me a small container filled with little white pills. After that Shane helped me up as Jenner took us to another room where there was a dining table.

"Easy now." Shane cooed as I stumbled a little.

"I know how to walk." I scolded back but flashed him a small grin. Hearing a cough I turned to see Daryl avert his eyes to anything but me. The next thing we knew we were sitting down at the table with a feast before us. The best part was there was no shortage of wine. After getting the okay from Jenner I took a bottle from Glenn and took the longest gulp before coming up for air.

"Now this is what I call hospitality." Glenn laughed but looked relieved I had taken the drink from him I'm glad he did as I wasn't giving it back. Perching myself on the edge of here table I tipped my head back and had more, the bitter liquid running down my throat and making my insides tingle. Dr Jenner was sitting to the side of us all, turning a bottle of whiskey around and around in his hands. There was something strange about him, something I didn't quite trust no matter how nice he was being.

"Keep drinking little man. I wanna see how red your face can get." Daryl looked over to Glenn and everybody laughed. This was Glenn's first time drinking and we were gonna get him drunk off his feet. I saw Daryl glance over to me as my eyes brushed over him and we quickly looked away from each other. I don't know why though, we were all good now. Maybe it was all the people.

"Yeah, drink up." I pushed the bottle into Glenn's hand suddenly not caring what happened to it. I wondered over to Daryl and sat next to him. I could tell he was purposefully ignoring me so I took his bottle and had a sip, his grip on it still tight. He looked at me and opened his mouth like he was about to say something except he was interrupted by the clanging of metal on glass.

"Seems to me like we haven't thanked our host properly." Rick stood up and addressed us. I was really starting to get annoyed by him taking charge. We were a group, yes, but we did our own thing. Then this guy comes up in here and messes it all up?

"More than just our host." We all agreed and Daryl stood up swinging his bottle around a bit.

"Booya!" He yelled. Laughing we all copied him. Sitting back down he offered me the bottle. Smiling a little at him I took it and downed the rest.

"Whoa girl, you better let up." Tapping the mouth of the bottle against his nose I clucked my tongue.

"Someone needs to get to know me better if he thinks that." A surprised look crossed over his face before he got another bottle and started on it.

"So when you gonna tell us what the hell happened here Doc? Hmmm?" Shane piped up. He'd been pretty quiet and now decided to damped everyone's spirits. "All the uh, the other doctors who are supposed to be figuring out what happened. Where are they?"

"This is a celebration, Shane. No need to do this now." Rick was basically telling his friend to shut up. Licking my lips nervously I sat back to listen what Jenner had to say.

"Whoa, wait a second. That's why we're here, right? This was your move, supposed to find all the answers and instead we found him." Shane pointed his thumb to Dr Jenner. "Now one man, why?" Jenner started to tell us about how everything got overrun. I tried not to listen and snatched the bottle from Daryl's fingers. We all were saddened now, thinking about the reality of our situation.

"Dude, you are such a buzz kill man." Glenn said to Shane, shaking his head. Jenner got up and led us down to where the rooms were. I zoned out for most of what he said. Daryl and I were walking at the back of the group, he was helping me along as my leg was still a bit sore. The tablets and wine helped heaps though. I could probably walk on my own if I had to but Daryl had just helped me without a word.

"Same applies. If you shower go easy on the hot water." My eyes widened and I felt my face light up. Hot water...? His guy had not only running water but hot water?

"Hot water?" Glenn turned around to us as if asking if we'd heard it too.

"That's what the man said." T-dog laughed and the families filed into the rooms quick smart, the anticipation of a hot shower becoming too much. Turning my head to Daryl I slipped my arm off of his shoulders of I could get to an empty room. He looked at me questionably and I just smiled at him.

"Booya. Hot water." I raised my fist in the air to booya and a rough chuckle came from his throat. Standing there neither of us really turned away, unsure of how to end the conversation. "So I'm just gonna -"

"Tammy, could you uh -I think you should umm, not be alone tonight."

"Daryl -" I started but he interrupted me.

"I just think with that leg and all and you had a lot to drink tonight -"

"Will you shut up for a second? Say it straight." He took a breath and I saw the tension fall from his shoulders.

"I don't wanna be alone and I don't think you should be either." A softer smile formed on my lips and I placed a hand on his arm.

"Come on." Putting my arm back over his shoulder he led us to a room and we dumped his bag on the ground. I didn't really have anything besides my trusty knife that was always close at hand. Setting me on the edge of the cot Daryl bend down and started to grab a clean shirt out of his bag, his back to me. Sighing I let my body fall backwards into the blankets.

"This is like heaven. Sure I didn't die out there?" I let my eyes slide shut and I could have easily fallen asleep if it weren't for the southern American voice jerking me back to the present.

"Better not've, you ain't dying from a cut when there's dead people chewin' on us." Having gotten his new shirt he turned around and his face changed. It wasn't worried or frightened or anything like that but something different...

"The cot." Was all he said. Confused I looked around me. I was sitting in the the middle the most amazingly comfortable make shift bed in the world, yes, but what'd that have to do with -oh... There was only one and it was double sized.

"What are we, twelve? Come on." I sassed back. Was Daryl really stressing about having to share a bed? Gee, this man was a lot more sensitive than I first thought. He sort of stood there shuffling his feet so rolling my eyes I ever so slowly got to my feet.

"Need some h-" I raised an open palm signalling him to stop. Daryl was so determined to help me all of a sudden just when I had it under control.

"I got it. You go and have your shower or whatever. I'll come back." One foot at a time I finally made my way out of the room and heard the water start to run. Walking down the narrow hallway and I planned to shower in the morning, not wanting to get the new bandage on my leg wet quite yet. After all, in a place as locked down and safe as this we had all the time in the world. Thinking I might go and read a book for a while I wondered through the door where two big shelves filled with all varieties of books greeted me. Hearing someone clear their throat I looked up to see Shane standing across from me on the other side of the room. He looked distressed, running his hand over his head and flicking his eyes from the ground to me.

"What's wrong, Shane?" He didn't reply but just ran his hand over his hair again. Stepping closer I saw blood on his cheek and neck. There wasn't much but it was blood for Christ's sake and it looked fresh! "Are you okay? What the hell happened?" Finally looking at me, I saw the slightly wild look in his eyes. "Shane..." Reaching an arm out to him I went closer still trying to comfort him. Last time I didn't comfort Daryl it made everything so much worse so I would change that this time.

"I... Disagreed with someone." Frowning I gently placed my fingers on the light scratch in his neck.

"You have to tell Rick. He won't stand for something like this." I was right in front of Shane now. Quick as lightning I saw something click in his eyes, like a spark. He laughed but the type that set your nerves on edge.

"That's just the thing. He has no idea what's going on. Why would he? He's too busy not being dead. He's meant to be dead! He should be gone!" The next thing I know there was pressure on my lips and my eyes widened to show that Shane was kissing me. His hands held my shoulders, clinging to me in a deathly grip. I didn't kiss back but pushed his chest making his face back up a little.

"What the shit?" I half muttered half yelled not wanting it alarm anyone though they were all probably too busy to notice.

"Come on, Tammy. I've seen the way you look at me. You want me." Sure I did think he was sort of cute but I couldn't be with a guy this quick, even I had my limits. I didn't even know him and that was a big thing for me. He bend to kiss me again but I pressed my fingers to his mouth to make sure he didn't do it again. It didn't stop him though and he slid his hands down my arms to grab my hands and pin them to my sides. With his big frame against me and his strength restricting me I couldn't do anything much, I could only think of one thing. His tongue pushed into my mouth like a predator and I almost gagged. Biting down as hard as I could sent a metallic taste flowing into my mouth. Pulling back I saw something that chilled me to the bone. Shane licked his lip and stared me down like he was on the hunt. A murderous gleam twinkled in his eye and the thought occurred to me that I should leave. Willing my legs to work I sucked in a deep breath but I was stuck to the singular spot.

"Leave me alone." My voice wavered. Shane launched at me and within seconds pinned to against the desk to our left. "Get off me you dick!" I tried to swat him away from me but it was no use. I felt his hands slide down my side to my jeans and they popped open the first button. Anger filled me and I reached up digging my fingers into the newly healing sores on his neck. When he took and step back to look at me his was grinning.

"You like it, don't cha?" My top lip raised in a snarl as anger turned to rage. I raised me hand get again but this time it came down on his face with a sharp SNAP.

"Leave me the fuck alone you freak. Don't even talk to me." About to turn away I reconsidered and sent my knee flying to his crutch. Satisfied in hearing him groan in pain and seeing him double over I turned my heel and walked as fast as my leg would let me back to where Daryl and I were sleeping. Calm and collected I dragged myself down the hallway yet again and upon getting the the room closed the door and leaned against it. A sick feeling hit my stomach and I let my body slide to the ground in a heap. Sure I'd had guys try and kiss me before, what girl hadn't? Though never like that. Shane was dangerous.

"Get a grip, Tammy." Muttering to myself I pushed up from the floor and crawled into the bed. My clothes weren't clean, caked with dirt and sweat but I couldn't have cared less. Staring up at the ceiling in the silence brought every bad feeling I'd ever had out. A tear threatened to leak down my cheek but I didn't let it dare, scaring myself into stopping it. A collection of noise from a joining door in the room was brought to my attention. Daryl stepped into the room with a fresh bottle in his hands. He had a clean shirt, jeans and his hair was wet.

"Hey." I breathed unsure if he'd heard me or not. After what had just happened with Shane I really didn't want to talk so I turned my head to the side slightly so he wouldn't know if I was asleep or not. I heard the bottle clank on the ground as the bed shifted. Daryl climbed in on his side and he must have been on his back because he started to talk.

"Place is too clean, like this guy thinks his people are gonna come back or somethin'. I'd trashed the place by now, you and me both I recon." I wasn't sure if he was talking to himself or to me but I kept listening, concentrating in his every word. "Reminds me when Merle said he'd be there but one day he just left. He didn't take care of me, didn't seem to care but I won't do that. I'll make sure you're alright." I felt bed move from underneath me again but this time towards me. Quickly shutting my eyes, Daryl's gaze landed on me. I wasn't quite sure if I was holding my breath from nervousness or anticipation. I almost yelled out in surprise but stopped myself just in time when something warm pressed to the corner of the mouth just against my lips. Oh my god... Daryl was kissing me. He pulled back within the same moment and I heard the bed creak as he flopped onto his back. Hearing his breath even out I reached my hand up to my lips, my fingers lightly running across where his had touched. Being as quiet as possible I tilted my head so I could see the sleeping figure beside me. His chest rose and fell with his surprisingly gentle breathing. Resisting the urge to lean over and wake him I lay on my back too starting at the dark ceiling. The sick feeling crept back as I thought of Shane but thoughts of the man sleeping next to me evened it out to feeling of comfort. What the hell was Daryl Dixon doing to me?

**Hey Guys! :) Hope this chapter is alright, I'm not too sure bout it. It killed my soul a little writing Tammy get used like that by Shane :( Pleas tell me what you think and what you think should happen. Should Tammy make up with Shane? Also the song I was listening to while writing this chapter was Liquor Store Blues by Bruno Mars :)**

**Love from Breazy xxxx**


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